Bernanke: Fed could act if economy weakens

Chairman Ben Bernanke says the Federal Reserve is prepared to take further steps if the U.S. economy weakens, but he didn’t signal any action is imminent.

Bernanke says the European debt crisis poses significant risks to the U.S. financial markets. And he noted that U.S. unemployment remains high and the outlook for inflation subdued.

Bernanke’s comments in testimony to a congressional panel came one day after three Fed officials suggested that the central bank may need to do more to help the economy.

Most economists don’t expect further moves at the Fed’s next policy meeting June 19-20. They note that long-term rates have already touched record lows. Even if rates did decline further, analysts say they might have little effect on the economy.

One comment

Audit the FED. Benanke has been monetizing our debt which he said he wouldn’t do.
Low interest rates mean nothing for the working shelp who still pays 22% interest on his credit card debt, but it sure is a gift to the big banks who borrow.
The entire financial/banking system is messed up and the more the administration tries to fix it with more regulations the worse it gets.
And why is Jon Corzine still walking around free as a bird to continue bundling huge sums of money for theObama re-election?